We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Latrice Whitney a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Latrice, thanks for joining us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?
LC Body Fragrances was named after my mom , Lavera Calhoun, who passed away in 2019.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I got into Entrepreneurship by accident… I’ve managed Housekeeping for 17 years a hospital and never thought about owning my own business. In November 2019, my mom passed away 2 days after her birthday from an untreated urinary tract infection. I struggled badly with depression and grieving the loss of my mom to the point that I didn’t want to be here anymore. So one day I’m on the phone with my aunt, who is trying to help me through the storm, and she tells me to do something in memory of my mom so I can focus on that and make her proud. So I created LC Body Fragrances LLC, which made sense because my mother only wore body oils due to her sensitive skin of department store perfumes.
Lc Body Fragrances couldn’t be like any other body oil business. It had to be a luxury brand but still affordable. We sell designer inspired fragrances oils where you can also get your favorite fragrance in a lotion, shea butter scrub, body wash, beard oil massage oil, moisturizing body sprays, and room sprays. Our fragrances are not harsh on your skin, they last all day, and do not contain alcohol or water.
Since launching my business, I created 2 fragrances, one was a replicate of the fragrance my mother wore. I call it “Sugamama”. This is what my daughter called her. Sugamama is a light musk with a hint of floral. The other fragrances is called “Panty Dropper”, which is a unisex fragrance that is clean and fresh. It’s smells masculine on men and clean fresh scent on women.
Panty Dropper has become my #1 Selling Fragrance.
I also decided to expand the brand by creating the first Black Owned Luxury Travel Kit. The travel kit contains a small oil, body wash, lotion, and poopuri spray in your favorite fragrance. and scrub hands or loofah. You can add hair oil or beard oil to your kit. It’s perfect for traveling.
I am proud of the direction that LC Body Fragrances is going. I am grateful of my Aunt who helped me turn my pain into a purpose. I know that if my mom was still here she would be extremely proud of me and right by my side slanging these oils. Lol.
Making people smell good is truly my therapy.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
My mother passing was sudden, her body went into septic shock due to a untreated urinary tract infection. I would like to start a non profit foundation in memory of my mom to provide weekly testing for anyone who lives in a nursing facility or assisted living. Untreated UTI’s in elderly living in nursing homes are more common than we think and can be deadly.
Growing up as a plus size black woman and raised by a single Mother in Richmond California was not easy. However, I watched my mother worked hard to make sure I didn’t want for anything. She taught me work ethics at the young age of 9, by making me work at her job instead of going outside to play. I learned medical billing and management skills while working with her. This has definitely shaped my entrepreneurial experience and my drive to have a successful business. I want to show women of color that you can turn your depression and grief into something positive. Mental Health is serious and I do not know where I would be if I didn’t have my business to help me get through my grief and depression. I tell people all the time that making people smell good is my therapy.
How’d you meet your business partner?
After six months of watching my business my grow, my vision began to expand. I watched business owners that look like me displaying their products every weekend at pop up events and I decided I wanted to offer a space for my products but also a space for other business owners on a more consistent basis who can’t afford a brick n mortar. I met my business partner at a Holiday pop up event and we just clicked. I call her my creative soul sister. We had similar visions and decided to partner together and open Sactown Collab Spot. SacTown Collab Spot is a retail pop up co-working, and event space. Our motto is Collaboration over Competition.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lcbodyfragrances.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/lcbodyfragrances
- Facebook: Lcbodyfragrances
- Yelp: Lcbodyfragrances